The city is named after its founder, oilman Jared Sidney Torrance. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 137,946; a 2003 estimate puts the total population at 142,621. Torrance is the 7th largest city in Los Angeles County.
Del Amo Fashion Center, at three million square feet (300,000 m²), is one of the largest malls in the United States. Estimates vary between the second largest (after the Mall of America) and the fourth largest, depending on the measurements used. The current mall was created when Del Amo Center, built in 1958, merged with Del Amo Fashion Square, built in 1970. Once located on opposite sides of Carson Street, a gigantic expansion of the mall spanning Carson Street joined the two centers by 1982, making it the longest mall in the world at the time. Del Amo Fashion Center has been used as a location for several motion pictures, including Jackie Brown and Bad Santa. In 2005, the east end of the original mall north of Carson Street was demolished to make way for a new open-air shopping center, scheduled to open in summer of 2006.
One of the country's few urban wetlands can be found in Torrance. Madrona Marsh is a nature preserve on undeveloped land once set aside for oil production.
Torrance Beach lies between Redondo Beach and Malaga Cove. The region shared by Torrance and Redondo Beaches are often called "Rat Beach" (short for "Right After Torrance").
Torrance is well-known for its annual Armed Forces Parade on Armed Forces Day in mid-May every year down Torrance Boulevard. The parade features many military vehicles from the different branches of the Armed Forces. After the parade, the military vehicles are put on display at the parking lot of the Del Amo Fashion Center for two days.
Torrance High School is not only one of the oldest high schools in California, its facade is familiar to television viewers as the setting for Beverly Hills 90210 and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and to moviegoers for its appearances in She's All That.
South High School, near the southern border of Torrance, was used as a location for the 1999 filming of the movie American Beauty.
Torrance is home to the U.S. headquarters of two of the three largest Japanese auto makers, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. and American Honda Motor Company. Robinson Helicopters are designed and built in Torrance as are Garrett Systems turbochargers, used on automobile engines worldwide. California's aerospace industry began in Torrance and surrounding communities.
Torrance is also home to the main bakery facility for King's Hawaiian, the dominant brand of Hawaiian bread in North America.
As a major oil-producing region, Torrance was once dotted with thousands of oil wells and oil derricks. Though the oil wells are not as common as they once were, the ExxonMobil refinery in the north end of the city is responsible for much of Southern California's gasoline supply. In fact, much of Southern California's gasoline supply is refined within a few miles of Torrance. ARCO produces gasoline in Carson; Texaco has a refinery a bit further east in Wilmington; Unocal is in San Pedro while one of the oldest refineries in the state is the Chevron plant in El Segundo. Torrance was also an important hub and shop site of the Pacific Electric Railway.
Torrance has a busy general aviation airport, originally named simply "Torrance Airport" and since renamed Zamperini Field after local track star, World War II hero and Torrance High graduate Louis Zamperini. In 1990 the airport had 243,324 take-offs and landings, down from the 1974 record of 428,000 operations. Airport noise abatement is a major local issue.
Torrance is home to the corporate headquarters of Edelbrock, a leading manufacturer of automotive and motorcycle aftermarket products.
The footwear company Lakai also has headquarters in Torrance. Electronics manufacturer Panasonic has a plant manufacturing DVD-RAM and Blu-Ray media in Torrance.
Today, Torrance is considered to be a very desirable place to live in Los Angeles County, reflected in the ever-increasing property values and its proximity to the beach communities of Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach and the upscale coastal communities of the Palos Verdes Peninsula.
Torrance is one of the few American cities that approaches the ideal balance between the three major types of zones. This explains its slogan: "A Balanced City, Industrial, Residential, Commercial." Torrance however was not designed originally to be a balanced city, in the past it was known as "Headquarters City, Industry, Finance, Business." However, in recent years, major re-zoning of old industrial areas to residential has caused an enormous population growth and all the caveats that come with it, including heavy traffic congestion.
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